6. Verify Your Data

The U.S. Department of Education selects a certain number of applicants for a verification process. If you have been selected, tax filers will need to submit Tax Return Transcript(s) from the IRS and other documents to your school's financial aid office to verify the data you supplied on your FAFSA.

Being selected for verification does not necessarily mean that you made an error in filling out your FAFSA but in order to receive financial aid that you have been awarded, you will have to submit IRS Tax Return Transcript(s) and other documents requested by your school's financial aid office.

To order a Tax Return Transcript, go to www.irs.gov, and click on Get Transcript of Your Tax Records and follow the steps or call the IRS at 1-800-908-9946.

Frequently Asked Questions

My SAR indicates that my application has been selected for "Verification." What is that?

The federal government uses a process called verification to help determine the accuracy of the financial information on your FAFSA. If your application needs to be verified, you will have comments on your SAR indicating what actions you need to take to complete the verification process. Your electronic record will also indicate that verification must be completed before any federal student aid payments are made. If your application is selected for verification, or if there are any other questions about your application, the financial aid office will send you a letter requesting you to provide documentation and complete a "Verification Worksheet". Tax filers will have to submit a Tax Return Transcript that is obtained from the IRS or use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool that is part of FAFSA on the Web.